How to Bring Order in a Chaotic Work Environment

by Kevin Johnston, Demand Media

If your small business operates in an environment of chaos, you have to get a handle on it. You may look at the situation and feel like throwing up your hands, but you actually can impose order. Start my eliminating the chaos in your outlook. Organize what you see in your mind, and then start taking action that will bring that organization to fruition. Follow orderly steps, and the chaos will dissipate.

Step 1

List all of the demands being made in the workplace, including from customers, management, deadlines, employee needs, sales and production department demands and those imposed by software and other systems. Next to each demand, write the business benefit it offers and also note the cost of the demand. Hone your list down to those essential demands that actually help the business function better, and set aside the rest temporarily.

Step 2

Write down your business objectives. These are the short-term achievements you would like to reach on your way to your long-term goals. This list should be fairly short -- three to five items. If the list is not short, that is the source of your chaos. Whittle it down. Once you have a short list, place it next to your list of demands.

Match up demands with objectives. Highlight or underline the demands in the workplace that actually contribute to reaching your objectives. This will further reduce the demands list.

Step 4

Prioritize the demands, ranking them with a number scale. Rewrite the list with the demands placed in order. This is the core set of demands you will begin to address amid the workplace chaos.

Step 5

Share the list. Let your employees know that you expect the demands at the top of the list to take priority. Assure your employees that the remaining demands will be addressed once you see that essential tasks are handled.

Step 6

Prioritize the back burner demands. Keep your promise to employees to address additional demands that are not on your current priority list. Decide when you can begin to meet those demands, and let your employees and departments know your time schedule. This will lower stress and chaos in your business.

About the Author

Kevin Johnston writes for Ameriprise Financial, the Rutgers University MBA Program and Evan Carmichael. He has written about business, marketing, finance, sales and investing for publications such as "The New York Daily News," "Business Age" and "Nation's Business." He is an instructional designer with credits for companies such as ADP, Standard and Poor's and Bank of America.

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